Schwartz.World!

Dongles

Created: Fri Sep 25 2020 11:59:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Tags: tech,complaints

TAGS::tech,complaints

I am on the record as being anti-dongle. It’s a battle, and I’m losing it.

Work has provided me with a shiny MacBook pro, which has 4 USB-c ports that have to work for everything.

  1. One port is taken up by the power cable. This is a ridiculous design choice, and I believe many of the flaws with new MacBooks are because of it. Sure, it’s great to plug your laptop in on either side, I guess. Was that ever a problem for anybody?
    You know what was a problem for me?
    Kicking cables by accident. I broke a laptop screen in like 2005.
    You know what fixed it?
    MagSafe connectors. RIP.

  2. Audio interface

  3. Shared between a monitor cable and my keyboard cable

  4. Shared between a monitor cable and my trackball mouse

FAQ

Why don’t you just get wireless tech to replace your wired tech?

Besides the fact that I don’t want to replace perfectly good peripherals, batteries are a poor design choice. They have an expiration date, another form of planned obsolescence. I’d never pay a penny for AirBuds or whatever they’re called without a replaceable battery. My peripherals will work as long as USB is still a standard. Just with dongles…

I refuse to charge my headphones or mouse. That’s ridiculous.

Wireless tech is a lot more money too. You can get a mediocre pair of bluetooth headphones for $100 or a really great pair of wired headphones for <$40.

Why do you use an audio interface?

Convenience mostly. Except that I bought mine before USB-C was a thing, so now I need a dongle. Worth mentioning, my computer does have a headphone jack, but my phone doesn’t. You need a dongle for that.

Why not use a USB hub?

I guess I could. But I have dongles, so I use them. It’s the same difference.